入れ墨が原因と思われるびまん性肉芽腫性肺炎の1例

抄録

A 32-year-old taxi driver was admitted with complaints of coughing and exanthema. The respiratory symptoms and exanthema had appeared in April, 1980 and he had been tatooed on his back and arms about a year previously. His tatoo was composed of four distinctive colours (red, yellow, green and black). Exanthema was seen in only the red, yellow and green parts. Bilateral axillar and cervical lymph nodes were palpable. Chest X-ray films revealed diffuse shadows in both lung fields. Serum and urine test were normal. a biopsy of skin tissues and a lymphotic gland showed granulomatous changes caused by the tatoo dyes. Analysis of the dyes suggested that the red coloring matter consisted of organic mercury.
Pathological findings of the specimen obtained from a lung biopsy showed thickening of the alveolar wall, with infiltration of lymphocytes and epitheloid granuloma. Electron microscopy showed that the tatoo dyes were localized in his skin, lymph nodes and lung. We concluded that this was a case of diffuse, granulomatous interstitial pneumonia due to his tatoo.